Hanging with the adults, do you know where your children are? COUSIN TIME!

Growing up as a child, there's that special time - something you never really talk about with your friends at school because it was different - and special.  Cousin time.

Some of our best friends we acquire by blood, others by thinned blood, and others not by blood, but those blood relatives that you see on those specific times of year are the best bonds that are always unbroken.  Cousin times are when you get the exotic nature of people that don't live where you live BUT they have to accept you because you are related by BLOOD, and there's no one else to play with if they don't.  It's these times that the adults gather and possibly add a highball or two and talk like adults and let their children play because it's cousins, it's a safe and fun area for children.

Little did they know that we were putting together concoctions of hotsauce and Mayonaise for the little kids to drink, or making the two "kissing cousins" actually kiss whether they liked it or not.  Now, it's "Nasty Soup" complete with a few sprays of gold paint into the bucket (luckily not in anyone's face).  Ever played the game of "Fart?"  There's always those types of cousins:  the one that always gets hurt, the one that's sensitive, the one that comes up with the ideas, the one that enjoys providing the muscle, the one that hangs out with the adults.  jokes are made up, bad words are taught but you can't mistake the love and affection between these kids forever tied together by blood.

As they grow, the strange concoctions may turn into texting each other, the kissing cousins may not speak to each other for years, but the bond formed by these times as they are young will remain forever.  Years later as an adult when I see my cousins, there are many things that we laugh about, a few secrets (those fireworks) we'll keep still but we always pick right up from where we left off.  We laugh about bending all the pots banging them together on New Year's Eve, about riding mini bikes up the hill, about "Smear the Queer" and running through the Peach Orchards saying, "I think I hear the dogs coming."

Good times always start and end with family, especially when you're a kid and it's "Cousin Time."  What memories do you have of cousin time?

How to feel old part 2!

Wanting to be involved in my children's school I was asked to man a table for "Multicultural Night" so of course my immediate response was "Erin Go Brach!"  So I went and pulled all my Ireland stuff and got ready for my night of spreading culture.  KNowing how children are, I included some food because that always attracts kids!

The kids came to my booth and asked many questions, many making me feel pretty old.  "Why are those pictures so long?"  Me?  "They are panoramic pictures, taken with a camera."  "Why are they in a book and not on the screen?"  "Uh that's because they were taken with a REAL camera, not a digital camera, so these are REAL pictures."  I look at the pictures and my long hair and skinny body and feel a prick of age creeping in....

"Why type of money is this?"  I look at the coins and answer again, "That's the Irish money before the Euro, now all the European countries use the Euro, so these coins aren't really circulated in Ireland, but here's the pound, the pence and a penny."  Hmmmm, I'm beginning to sound like my grandmother.....

Then they look at the clothing, the beautiful handknit woolen sweaters, mine from the Aran Islands and my son's that he wore when he was......gosh, 6 months old?  I look at the small sweater and sigh, I remember telling people that time doesn't pass that fast now I'm sounding just like them with "Man, time really flies!"

I look at my treasures and think about the memories and smile, it's these things that make me feel old but the memories that come with them that keep me oh, so young!  What memories do you have?  Are you finding your toyes in the antique shop yet?

There's something about a quiet house.......

I can lay there in bed and talk myself into the extra 30 minutes of extra sleep from 430a to 5am but honestly, I tell myself, all I'll be doing is lying there thinking of all the things I have to do then trying to talk myself into sleep so might as well get up.  There's something about a quiet house......

A quiet house is so full of promise, it brings me peace to sit with a cup of coffee, and yes the computer and think about the sounds I don't hear in my quiet house.  The quiet holds so much promise, the black of night waiting patiently as I do for the dawning of a new day, the quiet painting of the sky as the Earth slowly opens her eyes.  If each day is a gift, the quiet of my house is that night before my birthday, I know something good is coming it's just a waiting game for everything to happen.

A quiet house reminds me of who I am, I remember sitting up at this time holding a baby listening to him breathe, I remember pacing at this time many worries on my mind, I remember the times of inspiration and getting up before it left never to be found again.  Then there's the time like these, where I can sit and ponder the quiet, I can accept what I may not want to accept, I can plan for that bright and beautiful day before the color hits the sky.  Take that dark night and tuck it away, let alone the things I didn't do, couldn't get done and let them drift away with the dark sky.

This quiet house soon will be full of the noise of arguing, drawers opening, dog nails on the wooden floor, toilets flushing, showers running, all the things that make life what it is.  For these last few moments, though I'll enjoy that cup of coffee, enjoy this time that gives me peace, and wait in quiet anticipation for opening my beautiful gift that is today!

What do  you do when the house is quiet?